On this episode of The Legislature Today, lawmakers have introduced bills this session that they say protect single-sex spaces. Advocates with LGBTQ rights organizations, though, say the legislation follows a pattern of singling out transgender people for discrimination.
On this episode of The Legislature Today, lawmakers have introduced bills this session that they say protect single-sex spaces. Advocates with LGBTQ rights organizations, though, say the legislation follows a pattern of singling out transgender people for discrimination.
Curtis Tate spoke with Eli Baumwell, interim executive director of the ACLU-WV, and Isabella Cortez, Gender Policy Manager for Fairness West Virginia, about those efforts.
In the House, five bills on third reading were approved, including two that fostered some debate over election laws, voting laws and candidate filing periods.
In the Senate, the chamber passed and sent two bills over to the House and introduced a separate bill that would change rules for wineries in the state. Briana Heaney has more.
Also, to start the week, education committees in both chambers have focused on supporting students in difficult situations. Chris Schulz has more.
Finally, it was WVU Day at the Capitol, and the growing public, private and academic partnership in workforce development was the leading theme on display.
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The Legislature Today is West Virginia’s only television/radio simulcast devoted to covering the state’s 60-day regular legislative session.
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Currently, wineries are required to serve food if wine is going to be consumed on premises, but a new law advancing through the Senate would change that.
Updated on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024 at 6:25 p.m.
Currently, wineries are required to serve food if wine is going to be consumed on premises, but a new law advancing through the Senate would change that.
Senate Bill 320 progressed to second reading Tuesday. The bill would remove the current requirement for wineries to serve food when any more than four ounces of wine is being consumed on site by a patron.
Sen. Mike Stuart, R-Kanawha, vice chair of the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said the bill is good for the state’s business climate.
“This seems to be a smart move with less regulation, and more freedom,” Stuart said. “I trust people to do the right thing on this. The idea of whether there’s a cracker or there isn’t, is not gonna save somebody’s life.”
Being required to serve food, requires extra permitting and overhead costs for wineries. Stuart said deregulation in this industry could bolster the vineyard and wine industry and aid tourism.
“We’ve got a huge potential for wine tourism growth,” Stuart said. “Tourism is booming in West Virginia, I think we need to embrace it as much as we can. That’s why I think less regulation: Let these wineries do what they can to bring in more people to grow West Virginia.”
However, he says this is just a small change to deregulation of alcohol and drug sales. Unlike a bill that the House sent over to the Senate that legalizes making moonshine, or introduced legislation on the legalization of recreational Marijuana.
“It’s a very small tweak, not a huge change. I think it provides for freedom — that’s reasonable. And we don’t have to worry about the safety of our communities on this,” he said.
Virginia, a top wine producing state, has laws similar to SB 320 that permit wine to be served without food being served.
**Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story misidentified Sen. Mike Stuart, R-Kanawha, as Senate Majority Leader Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha.
The Senate passed 20 bills Monday on a variety of issues ranging from alcohol consumption to high school sports.
The Senate passed 20 bills Monday on a variety of issues ranging from alcohol consumption to high school sports.
Senate Judiciary Chair Sen. Charles Trump, R-Morgan, said on the floor that Senate Bill 534 was intended as technical cleanup for a bill the Senate passed last year relating to beer, cider, wine, and liquor license requirements.
After changes in committee, and the addition of three floor amendments, the bill would expand how and where alcoholic beverages can be sold and enjoyed responsibly.
“It authorizes municipalities to establish private outdoor designated areas that are zoned for alcohol consumption in that area for alcohol drinks sold for by qualified permit holders, who are class A licensees,” Trump said. “The bill allows a product I’ve not heard of before, but I’m eager to learn about beer slushies. Maybe members of this body are familiar with the product? I don’t know. But the bill will permit that. It would be currently unpermitted under our present law.”
Trump stated that the changes would serve to promote tourism in the state. The bill had its detractors, but ultimately passed on a vote of 25 to 8.
Senate Bill 667 would require periodic performance audits by the legislative auditor of the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission, the main governing body of high school sports, cheerleading, and marching bands in the state.
There was a brief debate over the legality of such a bill.
Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, stood to oppose the bill and raised concerns that the proposed oversight would not stand up to legal scrutiny.
“The Supreme Court of Appeals held that the WVSSAC is not a state agency. In fact, they went on to say it’s not even what’s called in the law public body,” Woelfel said. “So respectfully, I believe it’s an unconstitutional attempt by us to have an audit of an autonomous group. And that’s what the Supreme Court of West Virginia described the SSAC as.”
Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, one of the bill’s co-sponsors, spoke in favor.
“What I think we’re trying to get here, with this piece of legislation, Mr. President, is a look under the hood of the agency that is responsible for all the activities in the state that our kids who attend high school partake in, any sports, whether they’re in the band,” he said. “An organization that has millions in assets.”
Senate Bill 737 was the second bill introduced Monday to deal with compensation for Emergency Medical Service workers.
Senate Finance Chair Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, said the bill would create a special revenue account, the Emergency Medical Services Salary Enhancement Fund, to supplement the salaries of EMS workers across the state.
“The rules are to provide a mechanism for distribution of the funds to the county with the parameters of distribution to counties demonstrating the most need, counties who have a special levy, counties who have reached the maximum rate on a regular Levy and counties that suffer from competition from border states,” he said.
All three bills, along with 13 others, now go to the House of Delegates for its consideration.
Nearing Completion
The Senate also took up four bills originating in the House.
House Bill 2062 completed legislative action. If signed by Gov. Jim Justice, the bill would modify e-bike regulations to more closely conform to federal law and allow certain e-bikes to be operated on public lands. The bill also states that users of e-bikes would have the same rights and privileges as regular bicycles.
House Bill 3340, which modifies the state’s Tax Increment Financing system, also completed legislative action and is awaiting the governor’s signature.
The other two bills were amended on the Senate floor and will complete legislative action if the House concurs on the Senate’s amendments. House Bill 3307 would establish the West Virginia-Ireland Trade Commission, and House Bill 3428 transitions the West Virginia Business Ready Sites Program from a pilot to a permanent status.
Gov. Jim Justice said he wants to expand West Virginia’s winemaking industry. On Wednesday, Justice said he is asking officials in the state’s commerce and agricultural agencies to look into growing the wine business in the eastern panhandle. Having more vineyards and wineries in West Virginia will boost tourism and local economies, according to Justice. He noted that Virginia has benefited from promoting its winemaking industry where the state borders West Virginia’s eastern panhandle.
Justice said he wants agriculture officials to evaluate winemaking conditions in the eastern panhandle. He wants commerce officials to investigate the market for vineyards.
Happy Retreat is a historic mansion in Charles Town that was once the home of Charles Washington – founder of Charles Town and brother to the nation’s first president. Today, the house is becoming a hub for public events, community outreach, history and tourism.
On a hot Saturday afternoon in June, hundreds of locals and out of town tourists stop by a historic mansion in Charles Town, West Virginia known as Happy Retreat.
They’re here for a day of wine and jazz out on the back lawn.
Credit Liz McCormick / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
A volunteer serves wine to a man attending the Happy Retreat Wine and Jazz Festival on June 9, 2018.
Inside the Happy Retreat mansion, visitors explore the first floor taking in the historic rooms.
This house was built in the 1780s by George Washington’s youngest brother, Charles Washington – the founder of Charles Town. It was his home until he died. For more than 200 years, Happy Retreat was a private residence, but then in 2006, the owners at the time were elderly, and the future of the house was unclear.
That same year, a group of locals formed a nonprofit group called “Friends of Happy Retreat” to restore and protect the mansion — and boost tourism for the area, too. Nine years later, the group purchased the home and began holding events on the property.
Credit Liz McCormick / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
A portrait of Charles Washington, founder of Charles Town, W.Va., hangs on the wall of one of the first floor rooms in the Happy Retreat mansion.
“Friends of Happy Retreat” do charge tickets to attend their events and festivals, but everyone involved in putting those events together are volunteers, and all the proceeds go to further restoring the house.
Stephanie Somers was born and raised in Charles Town. She says she’s glad to see the direction the mansion is taking and was excited to come out for the wine and jazz festival.
“By opening places like this up to the public, you’re inviting them in, and you’re; maybe by them coming in, they develop this sense of personal ownership of it; this is a part of my community,” Somers said, “and by developing that sense of ownership, they’re gonna care a lot more about it, and it’s going to be so much easier to preserve and maintain these places forever.”
Another festival-attendee, Evan Clark, is a resident from Winchester, Virginia. He crossed state lines just to attend the event. He says bringing people out to the mansion in this way will help keep the history alive.
“I’m embarrassed to say; I used to be a history teacher, and I didn’t know that George Washington’s brother lived here,” Clark said, “so this type of pairing; you know, wine and jazz festival, brings people to the venue and allows us to learn the history, and then understand also that it costs a lot of money, so maybe they’ll come for a tour, maybe they’ll become a donor or benefactor, and we can preserve that history by exposing more people to it. So, I think this is just a wonderful pairing.”
It’s for exactly those reasons, Charles Town resident Walter Washington wanted to turn Happy Retreat into what it is today – a historic landmark that draws visitors through community events.
“It was important to have a place in town that could really be; that would draw; a place for heritage tourism,” Washington said.
Credit Liz McCormick / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Walter Washington, descendant of George Washington’s brother, Samuel Washington. Walter is the President of the nonprofit, “Friends of Happy Retreat.”
Fun fact about Walter — he’s actually a direct descendant of George Washington’s other brother, Samuel. Walter’s responsible for starting that nonprofit we mentioned, “Friends of Happy Retreat,” to ensure the mansion’s survival.
“You know, we have the courthouse of course where John Brown was tried, and that’s a hugely important historical structure,” Washington noted, “but this goes back to, you know, the 1780s, and there was no place in Charles Town that really told that story; the story of the early part of town.”
Rather than turn the house into a museum, Walter wanted to bring the place to life by incorporating its history into fun events like wine and jazz, book talks, craft beer festivals, and chamber music concerts.
Walter says by making this historic spot a vibrant and exciting place to visit, he hopes it will enrich the community and help increase tourism for the entire state.
“Jefferson County is really the eastern gateway to West Virginia,” he said, “I mean, we have all of the, I don’t know how many million people live in the Washington-Baltimore metropolitan areas, with all the suburbs of the surrounding counties, and so this is really the gateway to West Virginia for those people. I mean, they come to Harpers Ferry, but that’s; Harpers Ferry is the very eastern tip of the whole state, and so if we can draw them in this way, a little further, we can tell more stories that way.”
Credit Liz McCormick / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
A potted flower sits in a window of the Happy Retreat mansion. Outside is the back lawn of the house. A temporary stage has been built for the Wine and Jazz Festival on June 9, 2018.
There’s something special about putting yourself in a historic space while listening to music or a guest speaker at the same time, that’s according to Director of the Happy Retreat Wine and Jazz Festival Fiona Harrison.
“I’m from the west coast, you know, we don’t have old buildings like this; we have different sets of history; we have Mexican explorers and the pueblos and the missions and stuff,” Harrison explained, “but to have an old building like this where former presidents have sat and met and probably had dinner and conducted business, it’s, I think the community is missing out if they don’t know that, that sort of thing happened here.”
In the fall, Happy Retreat will host a Craft Beer and Music Festival.
Six wine distributors in West Virginia have sued Minnesota-based Johnson Brothers Liquor Co. and the state operation it acquired last year, alleging they have tried to monopolize the state’s wine distribution market.
The suit filed in state court claims Mountain State Beverage acquired more than half of the market over the past six years using anti-competitive practices, including operating at a loss to drive competitors out and paying fees to induce suppliers to cut off competitors.
The smaller distributors allege Johnson Brothers took majority control last year and pressed its remaining competitors to sell their businesses at low prices.
A call to Johnson Brothers was not immediately returned Monday.
